First, some Christmas decorations around my town and Seoul:
At a restaurant with my friends:
Around the Christmas tree with my students:
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Christmas Photos
I'm still here in Illinois and enjoying my time with my family, but I thought I'd share these photos that were taken in Korea a couple weeks ago. I'm using my dad's computer, so I don't have the software to reduce the size of them, so my apologies to anyone who might have a slow connection.
First, some Christmas decorations around my town and Seoul:
First, some Christmas decorations around my town and Seoul:
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Christmas cards
I'm just starting to think about sending Christmas cards, and I noticed that my addresss book is a little out of date. If you didn't get a Christmas card from me last year or if you've moved since last Christmas, please send me an email!
That's all the news for today. I'm just relaxing here in the Chicago suburbs these days. My current favorite pasttime is curling up in the beanbag chair with the cat and getting my fill of foods that can't be found in Korea.
Merry Christmas Eve!
That's all the news for today. I'm just relaxing here in the Chicago suburbs these days. My current favorite pasttime is curling up in the beanbag chair with the cat and getting my fill of foods that can't be found in Korea.
Merry Christmas Eve!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Pizza Anyone?
Wednesday, December 20th
Happy Joe's in Galena
7 PM
Call me at Grandma Shirley's if you have any questions.
Happy Joe's in Galena
7 PM
Call me at Grandma Shirley's if you have any questions.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Ya!
Once again, there's really nothing to report this week. I've been really busy teaching and getting ready to head home for Christmas. The root canal is finished, and I am pain free. (Total cost: $37.) I finished all my Christmas shopping this evening (total cost significantly more than $37) and now I just have to figure out how to pack everything. I can't believe I'm leaving in just 4 days!After church on Sunday, I stopped by a street that has a really great collection of shops. In the middle of this block of shops is a big plaza that has some funky stores and contemporary art displays. The photo above is of the wallpaper at that plaza. It says "ya!" which means "hey!" in Korean. And that about sums it up for today!
Monday, December 04, 2006
No news, just a sore tooth
Yep, that about sums it up.
The root canal still isn't finished because of the infection. I went back this morning, and the dentist poked at it and drilled some more. Since he had already removed the nerve, he said I didn't need an anesthetic. It made sense to me at the time, until I felt this horrible, sharp pain. Apparently there was still some nerve tissue left. OUCH is an understatement. I have another appointment Thursday afternoon. I cringe thinking about it.
Five appointments to date: $30.
On the bright side, I'll be home for Christmas in 11 days, but who's counting anyway?
The root canal still isn't finished because of the infection. I went back this morning, and the dentist poked at it and drilled some more. Since he had already removed the nerve, he said I didn't need an anesthetic. It made sense to me at the time, until I felt this horrible, sharp pain. Apparently there was still some nerve tissue left. OUCH is an understatement. I have another appointment Thursday afternoon. I cringe thinking about it.
Five appointments to date: $30.
On the bright side, I'll be home for Christmas in 11 days, but who's counting anyway?
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
Usually, on Mondays I only teach one class, but one of the teachers was sick yesterday, so I ended up teaching all of his classes as well. Four classes back-to-back with only 10 minutes notice. Yikes! I didn't even know which textbooks to use! It all worked out well and was fun since I got to meet a new group of kids and see what it's like teaching older students.
After classes were over, Joy, Catherine, and I put the Christmas tree up in the school lobby. We wanted it where everyone could see and enjoy it, but the lobby is very small, so we opted for right in front of Joy's desk. We were very impressed with ourselves, so we took out the tripod and set the camera on the timer.
Here's one with the lights on:
After classes were over, Joy, Catherine, and I put the Christmas tree up in the school lobby. We wanted it where everyone could see and enjoy it, but the lobby is very small, so we opted for right in front of Joy's desk. We were very impressed with ourselves, so we took out the tripod and set the camera on the timer.
Here's one with the lights on:
And with the lights off:
Then we stopped by a department store to look at all the Christmas decorations. They had a whole display of mardi-gras-esque masks. I'm not really sure why they were in with the Christmas decorations (Joy and Catherine didn't know either), but we had fun trying them on . . . until we were told my a salesperson that we're not allowed to take pictures in the store. Oops.
My tooth seems to be healing pretty well. The erupting bulge in my gums has slowed down to an ooze and isn't anywhere near as painful anymore. As you can see, it's not slowing me down any.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Definitely root canal
A couple weeks ago I went to the dentist and was told "maybe root canal." I didn't like that assessment, so I've been taking the mystery pill packets and hoping that the problem resolves itself. Well . . . no luck, and on Friday, in addition to a very sore tooth and white stuff oozing from my gums, I had a nice large bulge around the tooth that periodically erupted. Gross! I stopped by the dentist's office after school yesterday, but they were already closed. However, their sign said they're open most of the day on Saturdays ("Saturday" is now a new word in my Korean vocabulary), so I was there when they opened the doors this morning. I told the dentist just to go ahead and do whatever it takes to fix this darn thing.
(Here's something I think is really funny. During my first visit to this dentist about two weeks ago, hardly anyone spoke in English to me. Even the dentist only spoke a few sentences to me. On my second visit a week later, people who said NOTHING to me in English on my first visit spoke to me in complete sentences, and I had a whole conversation with the dentist, whose English turns out to be excellent. Were they just shy the first time, or did they brush up on their English in the course of a week?)
The dentist gave me a couple shots of anesthetic, let me sit for a while, and then came back and asked if it was numb. My tongue was numb, and so was the inside of my cheek, so I said "yes." He started to drill, and all of a sudden, there was this TERRIBLE pain. Ummm . . . not numb. I seem to have a really high pain tolerance, but I'm a nervous patient and a bit jumpy. This only partially numb tooth didn't help! So another couple shots and more waiting. It took a total of 8 shots of anesthetic before they found the right place to numb the tooth. As a result, the entire right side of my face was numb, and I was drooling and having trouble speaking for most of the rest of the day. It ended up taking two hours, but the first part of the root canal is done. As much as I hated to spend a beautiful Saturday cooped up indoors, I'm very glad to have taken care of this on a weekend and NOT on a day when I'd have to go teach later in the afternoon!
It's a little sore now, and the periodically erupting bulge is still there (and still gross), but all in all, I'm not THAT uncomfortable. I go back on Thursday for Root Canal Part 2.
(Total cost of three visits to the dentist, xrays, two weeks worth of prescription antibiotics and painkillers, and Root Canal Part 1: $21.)
(Here's something I think is really funny. During my first visit to this dentist about two weeks ago, hardly anyone spoke in English to me. Even the dentist only spoke a few sentences to me. On my second visit a week later, people who said NOTHING to me in English on my first visit spoke to me in complete sentences, and I had a whole conversation with the dentist, whose English turns out to be excellent. Were they just shy the first time, or did they brush up on their English in the course of a week?)
The dentist gave me a couple shots of anesthetic, let me sit for a while, and then came back and asked if it was numb. My tongue was numb, and so was the inside of my cheek, so I said "yes." He started to drill, and all of a sudden, there was this TERRIBLE pain. Ummm . . . not numb. I seem to have a really high pain tolerance, but I'm a nervous patient and a bit jumpy. This only partially numb tooth didn't help! So another couple shots and more waiting. It took a total of 8 shots of anesthetic before they found the right place to numb the tooth. As a result, the entire right side of my face was numb, and I was drooling and having trouble speaking for most of the rest of the day. It ended up taking two hours, but the first part of the root canal is done. As much as I hated to spend a beautiful Saturday cooped up indoors, I'm very glad to have taken care of this on a weekend and NOT on a day when I'd have to go teach later in the afternoon!
It's a little sore now, and the periodically erupting bulge is still there (and still gross), but all in all, I'm not THAT uncomfortable. I go back on Thursday for Root Canal Part 2.
(Total cost of three visits to the dentist, xrays, two weeks worth of prescription antibiotics and painkillers, and Root Canal Part 1: $21.)
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving!
I talked a few of my friends into going out for dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving with me last night. No turkey or dressing, but we had some really good Korean food. Here's the photographic evidence of our nice night out:
After my adult class this morning, we all went out for lunch to celebrate Thanksgiving again! Once again, no turkey or stuffing, but some really good Korean food:
Last Sunday was a choir contest at church. Every group in the church had to perform a song in front of everyone else. They had some mechanism for judging choirs. First prize was . . . get ready for this . . . a tube of toothpaste for every member of the winning choir! Alas, my choir didn't win first prize (guess I better pick up some toothpaste at the store after all), but we each walked away with a nice consolation prize of . . . brace yourself for the excitement now . . . a box of tissues!!! (And the crowd goes wild . . .) Here we are in the main sanctuary performing our song. Can you pick me out? (Hint: I'm wearing the same turquoise turtleneck as in the previous pictures. I guess I need to vary my wardrobe a bit . . . or do laundry.) The photographer was sitting behind the men's bible study choir, hence all the men in suits in the foreground.
Finally, here's a shot of the underside of a beautiful Japanese maple tree that I walk past on my way to school each day. I didn't adjust the color at all. It's really this brilliant!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I certainly miss all of you and am thinking about you today. I have much to be thankful for, but top on my list are my family and friends.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Overdue Weekend Update
This weekend I joined up with some new friends, Jackie and Toby, for a hike in a city about two hours by train south of Seoul. We started off at the bronze Buddha statue at Taejosan. It's big. No kidding big. His ear is almost two meters long. To be fair, he does have disproportionately large ears, but even still, this is one huge statue.
We climbed up the mountain behind the statue. Jackie and Toby had been up there the week before and saw another mountain off in the distance, so our goal that day was to hike over to it. To get there we walked down into the valley on the other side of the mountain. We cut across this tiny village to continue in the direction of the mountain in the distance. The village reminded me a little of the town I lived in when I first came to Korea, even though this village was much smaller. We passed a little kid playing in the yard of one of the houses. He pointed at us and yelled to his mother (in Korean, of course) "Look! They're not Korean!" I guess they don't get many foreign tourists there. Here are some photos that Jackie took of the village:
Once we were across the village, it was time to climb up another hill. At one point, we lost the trail, so we had to do a little bit of bushwhacking. We ended up in the middle of a rice field. It was already harvested, so it was like a really big mud puddle with some straw in it. From the rice field, we found a trail that continued up the mountain. On our way to the ridge, we passed several graves, but one in particular was interesting because of the statues and view.
Finally we made it to the peak. Here's triumphant Toby and tired EMH:
And Toby and Jackie at the stone marking the top of Seonggeosan at 529 meters:
It was a little hazy, but the view was still nice:
From the peak, we followed trail signs for "Manilsa," which means "10,000 days temple." (I figured out the meaning of the name by myself. It was a very proud moment. I consider it a milestone in my endeavor to understand something about this language!) We figured a temple would at least be near a town, and from there, we could take a bus or taxi back to the city we started in. A couple kilometers later, we arrived at the temple. This was the water tank outside the temple. I'm not sure if the pictures are supposed to be Buddha or just an ordinary monk, but I thought it was very cute, as far as water tanks go.
The temple grounds were very small, certainly nothing spectacular, but they were pretty nonetheless. It was late afternoon, and the sunlight gave everything this warm, soft glow on a very brisk fall day.
The temple is believed to be from the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392 CE). One of the really interesting things at the temple is the pagoda, which is just left of center in the photo above. They aren't sure how old it is, but according to the Korea National Tourism Organization, it "demonstrates well the bold and unsophisticated style of both the Silla and Baekje Kingdoms." The Silla Kingdom existed from 57 BCE to 935 CE, and the Baekje Kingdom existed from 18 BCE to 660 CE, so if it's from one of them, that makes it REALLY OLD. One of the most interesting things about the temple was a Buddha carving in a crevice with a huge slab of rock as a slanting roof.
We headed down the road from Manilsa, feeling pretty confident that a town wouldn't be too far away. As we were walking, a car drove up behind us. Toby motioned for the driver to stop to ask him how far the town was. The driver insisted that we get in the car, and he gave us a ride into town. The town turned out to be 5 kilometers away, so he saved us a lot of walking. I felt a little bad that the only thing we had to give him as a thank-you was an orange. From the town, we got on a bus and were back in the city we started in 15 minutes later.
I said good-bye to Jackie and Toby and then bought a train ticket back to the Seoul area. I had another adventure actually getting home, but that's a story for another time. This post is long enough!
We climbed up the mountain behind the statue. Jackie and Toby had been up there the week before and saw another mountain off in the distance, so our goal that day was to hike over to it. To get there we walked down into the valley on the other side of the mountain. We cut across this tiny village to continue in the direction of the mountain in the distance. The village reminded me a little of the town I lived in when I first came to Korea, even though this village was much smaller. We passed a little kid playing in the yard of one of the houses. He pointed at us and yelled to his mother (in Korean, of course) "Look! They're not Korean!" I guess they don't get many foreign tourists there. Here are some photos that Jackie took of the village:
Once we were across the village, it was time to climb up another hill. At one point, we lost the trail, so we had to do a little bit of bushwhacking. We ended up in the middle of a rice field. It was already harvested, so it was like a really big mud puddle with some straw in it. From the rice field, we found a trail that continued up the mountain. On our way to the ridge, we passed several graves, but one in particular was interesting because of the statues and view.
Finally we made it to the peak. Here's triumphant Toby and tired EMH:
And Toby and Jackie at the stone marking the top of Seonggeosan at 529 meters:
It was a little hazy, but the view was still nice:
From the peak, we followed trail signs for "Manilsa," which means "10,000 days temple." (I figured out the meaning of the name by myself. It was a very proud moment. I consider it a milestone in my endeavor to understand something about this language!) We figured a temple would at least be near a town, and from there, we could take a bus or taxi back to the city we started in. A couple kilometers later, we arrived at the temple. This was the water tank outside the temple. I'm not sure if the pictures are supposed to be Buddha or just an ordinary monk, but I thought it was very cute, as far as water tanks go.
The temple grounds were very small, certainly nothing spectacular, but they were pretty nonetheless. It was late afternoon, and the sunlight gave everything this warm, soft glow on a very brisk fall day.
The temple is believed to be from the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392 CE). One of the really interesting things at the temple is the pagoda, which is just left of center in the photo above. They aren't sure how old it is, but according to the Korea National Tourism Organization, it "demonstrates well the bold and unsophisticated style of both the Silla and Baekje Kingdoms." The Silla Kingdom existed from 57 BCE to 935 CE, and the Baekje Kingdom existed from 18 BCE to 660 CE, so if it's from one of them, that makes it REALLY OLD. One of the most interesting things about the temple was a Buddha carving in a crevice with a huge slab of rock as a slanting roof.
We headed down the road from Manilsa, feeling pretty confident that a town wouldn't be too far away. As we were walking, a car drove up behind us. Toby motioned for the driver to stop to ask him how far the town was. The driver insisted that we get in the car, and he gave us a ride into town. The town turned out to be 5 kilometers away, so he saved us a lot of walking. I felt a little bad that the only thing we had to give him as a thank-you was an orange. From the town, we got on a bus and were back in the city we started in 15 minutes later.I said good-bye to Jackie and Toby and then bought a train ticket back to the Seoul area. I had another adventure actually getting home, but that's a story for another time. This post is long enough!
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Mystery Medicine
My friend recommended the dentist whose office is right in my building, so yesterday morning, I paid him a visit. (Apparently you don't make appointments for initial consults with a doctor or dentist here but just show up.) Now, I'm not a huge fan of going to the dentist anyway, though the folks at Dr. Painter's office in Galena always made it as painless and pleasant as possible, but I especially don't like it when it's difficult to communicate. Fortunately, the dentist I saw spoke enough English that I could more or less understand what he was saying to me. The office itself was spacious and well-equipped and looked pretty much like a dental office in the U.S.
The dentist and someone else (an assistant maybe?) looked in my mouth, poked a few places (OUCH!!), and then sent me off for an xray. The woman who did the xray jammed the little piece of film in my mouth really hard! I've never had an xray hurt before. Then back to the chair. The dentist looked at the xray, poked my tooth a few more times (OUCH again!), and told me he was giving me a prescription. If that doesn't clear up the problem, then "maybe root canal." WHAT?! He's gotta be kidding! I'm counting on this prescription to take care of things. Otherwise, it's second opinion time for me.
I stopped at the registration desk to pay before I left. The woman said "Sam chon o bek won," which means 3,500 won (about $4). I thought I must have misunderstood her and handed her 35,000 won (about $40). She laughed and handed me back the three 10,000 won bills and change. So my walk-in visit to the dentist, including an xray was about $4.
Then I headed to the pharmacy across the street to fill my prescription. This is what I was given, with verbal instructions on how to take them:
It cost about $2 to get the prescription filled. The writing on the red stuff says "Gargle. Do not eat." I think it's a mouthwash, so I've been swishing it in my mouth and not gargling it. I tried to ask the pharmacist, but she didn't know the difference between "swish" and "gargle." The pill packets just have the name and phone number of the pharmacy on them. No drug names, no directions. It's a little disconcerting. I like to know what I'm taking and why! So I get to take one of these little mystery packets three times a day until Thursday and then go back to the dentist if it's not better for "maybe root canal." I'm going home in December. I think I might try to tough it out until I can see a dentist without the language barrier.
The dentist and someone else (an assistant maybe?) looked in my mouth, poked a few places (OUCH!!), and then sent me off for an xray. The woman who did the xray jammed the little piece of film in my mouth really hard! I've never had an xray hurt before. Then back to the chair. The dentist looked at the xray, poked my tooth a few more times (OUCH again!), and told me he was giving me a prescription. If that doesn't clear up the problem, then "maybe root canal." WHAT?! He's gotta be kidding! I'm counting on this prescription to take care of things. Otherwise, it's second opinion time for me.
I stopped at the registration desk to pay before I left. The woman said "Sam chon o bek won," which means 3,500 won (about $4). I thought I must have misunderstood her and handed her 35,000 won (about $40). She laughed and handed me back the three 10,000 won bills and change. So my walk-in visit to the dentist, including an xray was about $4.
Then I headed to the pharmacy across the street to fill my prescription. This is what I was given, with verbal instructions on how to take them:
It cost about $2 to get the prescription filled. The writing on the red stuff says "Gargle. Do not eat." I think it's a mouthwash, so I've been swishing it in my mouth and not gargling it. I tried to ask the pharmacist, but she didn't know the difference between "swish" and "gargle." The pill packets just have the name and phone number of the pharmacy on them. No drug names, no directions. It's a little disconcerting. I like to know what I'm taking and why! So I get to take one of these little mystery packets three times a day until Thursday and then go back to the dentist if it's not better for "maybe root canal." I'm going home in December. I think I might try to tough it out until I can see a dentist without the language barrier.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Fall Colors
I have a nasty headache and toothache tonight, so I'm just going to post a couple photos. The leaves are just past their peak right now. It's been a pretty fall. Here are a couple snapshots of the beautiful fall colors.
First, a ginkgo tree. These are just about everywhere. They're a brilliant yellow right now, which is really pretty. However, ginkgo fruits are all over the sidewalks, and they're particularly smelly and messy. They remind me of the walkway to the library at Knox!
This is the town I live in, with my favorite mountain park in the background. The mountains are a lovely rust color right now. There was actually a little bit of snow on the very top last Tuesday morning.
I went hiking in another city on Saturday with some friends. I'll post some pictures of that later on this week. For now, I'm going to go to bed early! I get to experience a visit to a Korean dentist office tomorrow. Oh, the excitement!
First, a ginkgo tree. These are just about everywhere. They're a brilliant yellow right now, which is really pretty. However, ginkgo fruits are all over the sidewalks, and they're particularly smelly and messy. They remind me of the walkway to the library at Knox!
This is the town I live in, with my favorite mountain park in the background. The mountains are a lovely rust color right now. There was actually a little bit of snow on the very top last Tuesday morning.
I went hiking in another city on Saturday with some friends. I'll post some pictures of that later on this week. For now, I'm going to go to bed early! I get to experience a visit to a Korean dentist office tomorrow. Oh, the excitement!
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Weekend update
Life has been extremely busy for me. My teaching load is up, which I really like, but that means that I no longer have my mornings free, and I'm frequently at the school until 8 PM. Still, I can't believe how quickly the time flies by. I'm getting over a nasty cold, so I get tired really easily these days, too.
This weekend was interesting. On Saturday, I met Kathy, my roommate from Wesley Mission School, in a city called Suwon. Suwon has an excellent fortress that is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites. We visited the palace and then took a dragon trolley (see the photo below) around the fortress wall. I'm hoping to go back sometime and walk the perimeter of the fortress (5.2 km).
The palace:
The dragon trolley:
In honor of my dad, my life-long teacher of Fort Appreciation 101, I present Hwaseong Fortress.
I took the day off from my usual responsibilities at the church on Sunday and spent the day at a youth festival in Seoul. I helped at a tent that had displays and activities to educate middle school kids about North Korean refugees living in South Korea. I got to meet some university students who came to South Korea from North Korea a few years ago. They didn't speak much English, and we were pretty busy, so I didn't really have a chance to talk with them, which was a little disappointing.
The tent I worked in had maps displayed on tables showing the routes that refugees take from North Korea. Since they can't cross the DMZ, they go north from North Korea into China. From there, some go to Mongolia and then to South Korea. Others cross China and get to Thailand, which offers them some assistance in getting to South Korea. Still others cross China to Vietnam, travel through Vietnam to Cambodia, and then go to SK from Cambodia. A few get assistance from embassies or human rights groups in Beijing. The entire time they're in China, they're illegal and have to be careful not to be caught or they'll be returned to North Korea. The whole journey takes about two years. It's an incredibly long trip. Many times, they have to work illegally in order to earn money to continue traveling. They usually don't speak the language of the countries they're traveling through. I can't even begin to imagine it.
When the kids came to our tent, they were given 100 dominoes. They had to stand the dominoes up on the map along the refugees' route. They had 5 minutes and had to use all 100 dominoes. Since the maps were relatively small, in order to use all the dominoes, they had to take a circuitous route, not unlike that of many refugees. If they knocked any dominoes over while setting them up, it symbolized setbacks or even the return of themselves or friends or family members to North Korea. Once all the dominoes were standing up along the route, they would knock the first one over. If the dominoes didn't collapse along the whole route, it meant that they didn't make it to South Korea and were stuck somewhere else. The kids just had fun playing with the dominoes, but I thought the effect was pretty gripping. Here are a couple photos. The weird blue tint is due to being under a blue tent on a really sunny day.
This weekend was interesting. On Saturday, I met Kathy, my roommate from Wesley Mission School, in a city called Suwon. Suwon has an excellent fortress that is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites. We visited the palace and then took a dragon trolley (see the photo below) around the fortress wall. I'm hoping to go back sometime and walk the perimeter of the fortress (5.2 km).
The palace:
The dragon trolley:
In honor of my dad, my life-long teacher of Fort Appreciation 101, I present Hwaseong Fortress.
I took the day off from my usual responsibilities at the church on Sunday and spent the day at a youth festival in Seoul. I helped at a tent that had displays and activities to educate middle school kids about North Korean refugees living in South Korea. I got to meet some university students who came to South Korea from North Korea a few years ago. They didn't speak much English, and we were pretty busy, so I didn't really have a chance to talk with them, which was a little disappointing.The tent I worked in had maps displayed on tables showing the routes that refugees take from North Korea. Since they can't cross the DMZ, they go north from North Korea into China. From there, some go to Mongolia and then to South Korea. Others cross China and get to Thailand, which offers them some assistance in getting to South Korea. Still others cross China to Vietnam, travel through Vietnam to Cambodia, and then go to SK from Cambodia. A few get assistance from embassies or human rights groups in Beijing. The entire time they're in China, they're illegal and have to be careful not to be caught or they'll be returned to North Korea. The whole journey takes about two years. It's an incredibly long trip. Many times, they have to work illegally in order to earn money to continue traveling. They usually don't speak the language of the countries they're traveling through. I can't even begin to imagine it.
When the kids came to our tent, they were given 100 dominoes. They had to stand the dominoes up on the map along the refugees' route. They had 5 minutes and had to use all 100 dominoes. Since the maps were relatively small, in order to use all the dominoes, they had to take a circuitous route, not unlike that of many refugees. If they knocked any dominoes over while setting them up, it symbolized setbacks or even the return of themselves or friends or family members to North Korea. Once all the dominoes were standing up along the route, they would knock the first one over. If the dominoes didn't collapse along the whole route, it meant that they didn't make it to South Korea and were stuck somewhere else. The kids just had fun playing with the dominoes, but I thought the effect was pretty gripping. Here are a couple photos. The weird blue tint is due to being under a blue tent on a really sunny day.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Happy Halloween!
We had a mini Halloween party at school on Monday and Tuesday. The kids sort of know about Halloween. It's not celebrated here, except in English classes, but most of the kids have at least heard about it. The kindergartners and preschoolers made paper masks and jack-o-lanterns and then went trick-or-treating from classroom to classroom. Everyone was happy. What's not to like about free candy? It's amazing how quickly even the really quiet kids learned to say "trick or treat." Maybe I need to bribe them with candy everyday. On the other hand, small children with a sugar high is something I could do without. Maybe I'll bribe them but not give them the candy until just before I return them to their mothers. Now, there's an idea!
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Palace Tour
It has been another busy week here. We write progress reports for each student every month, and this was the week that they were due. I have 33 students, excluding my adult class, and I write a good paragraph for each student. It's a lot of writing, but it's really good for me to spend that time thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of each of the kids I work with. It helps me to tailor my lessons for the coming month to meet individual needs.
Today a friend and I went to Changdeokgung ("gung" means "palace") in Seoul. It's listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was a crisp fall day here, and the palace grounds were beautiful. The battery didn't last long on my camera, so I was only able to take a couple pictures. There is an exquisite garden behind the palace, but our tickets didn't include the tour to see it, so we'll have to do that another time.
Today a friend and I went to Changdeokgung ("gung" means "palace") in Seoul. It's listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was a crisp fall day here, and the palace grounds were beautiful. The battery didn't last long on my camera, so I was only able to take a couple pictures. There is an exquisite garden behind the palace, but our tickets didn't include the tour to see it, so we'll have to do that another time.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Mmmmm . . . samgyeopsal and kimchi
It's my birthday! In Korea, the birthday girl/boy treats, so I took my friends Joy and Catherine our for dinner. We ate sam-gyeop-sal, which is really fatty (and therefore good) pork that's cooked right on your table. You take a piece of meat, and dip it in a sauce. Then you put that on a lettuce leaf and add grilled garlic and kimchi and stick the whole thing in your mouth. It's good stuff!
Here's Joy cutting the kimchi with scissors:
And here we are waiting for the food to cook so we can eat! Don't you like how the guy in the poster behind me looks like he's toasting us?
Here's Joy cutting the kimchi with scissors:
And here we are waiting for the food to cook so we can eat! Don't you like how the guy in the poster behind me looks like he's toasting us?
It was a good day. My princesses brought a cake to school for me. They all helped me blow out the candles. Then we ate birthday cake out of paper cups with chop sticks. No one here understands why I think that's a funny way to eat cake. Here are some very cute (and silly) princesses:
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Penpal Project and Cute Kindergartners
We recently started a penpal project with the second graders at Galena Primary School in Illinois. Here are my students proudly showing off the first letter they received from their American penpals. They were so excited. They especially liked getting the pictures. They can't wait to write their next letter, but mean "Ellen-teacher" is making them wait two whole weeks since we have other things we have to cover in class, too.
And here are my kindergartners proudly showing off the last page of their textbooks. You can't tell from the picture, but it's a certificate showing that they've completed the level. They are so proud of themselves! Our new book is entitled Intensive Reading. What a title for these little munchkins!
I don't remember what was so funny in the second picture, but I like the result. That's the class from which the "fat pig" comment came. They're always entertaining.
And here are my kindergartners proudly showing off the last page of their textbooks. You can't tell from the picture, but it's a certificate showing that they've completed the level. They are so proud of themselves! Our new book is entitled Intensive Reading. What a title for these little munchkins!
I don't remember what was so funny in the second picture, but I like the result. That's the class from which the "fat pig" comment came. They're always entertaining.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
